Red Hood and the Outlaws Rebirth #1

[icon_uk]

The Rebirth issue of Red Hood and the Outlaws features Jason Todd to the exclusion of the other two new members of the team; Bizarro and Artemis (The Amazon 90's replacement for Diana as Wonder Woman one) to create the "Slightly warped Trinity" team.



So whilst the equivalent Nightwing issue darts around the world with a speed allowable only when your mode of travel is a narration box, the Red Hood issue zips backwards and forwards in time, from Jason's early days to the present... so yes, this sort of does amount to yet another origin issue for Jason Todd.

In this iteration he's still the tyre-jacking street hood who tries to nab the wheels of the Batmobile and is caught in the act by Batman who, instead of handing him over to the cops, takes him out for a burger, and then they go chat and it ends with Batman asking him to give him a chance...

It's nice to see Jason being shown to be more than "the angry fighting Robin", but also a very sharp cookie.



The usual timline is presented; "Starts out strongly as Robin, growing anger issues, his murder at the hands of the Joker (Whose possible involvement in his origin (as was strongly hinted in the New 52) is never mentioned, thank the Lord) his resurrection by Lazarus Pit and further training from whichever shadowy organisation it was that the New 52 brought in.

We also see the present where the Red Hood arrives at a civic function on a motor bike, shoots a couple of cops and despite Batman's intervention, also shoots the Mayor. Batman is tazered by Jason, who then escapes.

Later Jason finds Bruce waiting for him in his new base of operations, which is hidden under GCPD HQ... which Bruce finds a little TOO clever (I think he's just jealous he never thought of it himself)

Of course, it turns out there's more going on than we know, Jason shot the cops with tranquilisers and the Mayor with the cure for a techno-organic virus that even Batman didn't know he'd been infected with (What, they've transplanted Warlock from the MU? The Techno-organic virus is HIS thing) and then....



So it seems Batman is going to excuse the various people Jason HAS murdered, mighty magnanimous of him, but I suppose the "No killing" rule is an interesting addition... of course, if Jason sticks to it, there's very little to distinguish him from Nightwing, but we'll see where it goes.

And then we get this cute little scene...



Awwww! :)



Look, Daddy-Bats is smiling in his first photo with his new Robin, which is as it should be.

(I know they've established that Jason is an avid reader, but the books here are a little.... on the nose. Machiavelli's The Prince and Sun Tzu's Art of War? Really?)

 

Comments

[informationgeek]

Overall, it wasn't a bad issue... but just kind of a basic origin story issue. I think what would spiced it up a bit if we actually got a bit of Artemis and Bizarro.

Still, better written than the last few issues of the previous Red Hood series. *shrug*

[junipepper]

there's very little to distinguish him from Nightwing

Buns.

[icon_uk]

True, forget the heroiem, forget even the track records as Robin, Jason will always have that perfect behind hanging over his head.

....

Wait?

...

What?

...

Whaddaya mean "Could be misconstrued"?

This is scans_daily, it was actively construed

[long_silence]

The flashbacks were really nice, and I'm glad that they're ignoring Morrison's retcon that Bruce forced Jason to dye his hair to match Dick's
The red headed step child thing was a bit on the nose.

I am curious about how they're going to use Artemis in this series though. Is she going to be Artemis of Bana-Mighdall or will she be from Themyscira? If its the latter they may as well just make her Aleka with a codename.

[janegray]

Ohhhhh, I like this! Thanks for posting it :D

[lucean]

I do appreciate they are attempting to give Jason a proper narrative direction here as well as setting a more strained relationship with Batman.

I am still really on the fence about the Warped Trinity, as I worry they won't again really commit to that approach, but at the same time I am intrigued what they will do with it.

[onsokumaru]

I'm the sidekick Batman needs, not the one he deserves.

[zapbiffpow]

Great issue! Redhead Revisited. Little Red Raiding Hood. Peter Pain. The Not-So-Good-Son. Anastasia. I'll have more next month.

I do have an issue with this, though: isn't Red Hood already a known associate of Batman? If he is a KA, and if that didn't change post-Rebirth, any infiltration play Jason might make against Black Mask would be dead before it even begins.

[starwolf_oakley]

I'm guessing this Jason Todd doesn't have the high body count of Black Mask's men.

OF course, when it comes to "crossing the line," Batman doesn't really think *everyone* who kills the bad guys becomes as kill-crazy as the Joker or Victor Zsasz... does he?

[silicondream]

Batman didn't want Huntress in the JLA when it became clear she was willing to kill, but he certainly expressed approval of her on later occasions. And he got along reasonably well with Grifter in the JLA/WILDC.A.T.S. crossover, though he challenged Cash to go gunless while they were teamed up.

[icon_uk]

It's been fairly inconsistent, especially in the New 52 where Bruce actually describes Jason as "The one who is prepared to do what Batman won't" which for someone with Bruce's usual, absolute "no killing" rule was slightly jaw dropping, and no I don't think he meant anything else by that phrase (Though I suppose "Torturing information" might qualify, since Bruce usually talks a much, much more scary game than he actually plays... unless Miller-esque tendencies are present in the writer.

[bradygirl_12]

Aww, the photo scene is great, and Jason putting it on display...more awwws! :)

[kurenai_tenka]

(Whose possible involvement in his origin (as was strongly hinted in the New 52) is never mentioned, thank the Lord) his resurrection by Lazarus Pit and further training from whichever shadowy organisation it was that the New 52 brought in.

Yay to the first and (I'm assuming) boo to the second. Obviously I'm not reading something written by Lobdell, but the fewer dreadful retcons he's introduced sticking, the better.

[thenicochan]

Really like the art, and love the interaction between Robin!Jason and Bruce. The bit at the end with the picture makes me heart smile.

[beeyo]

The art was seriously on point. I even found myself wishing this artist was working on Nightwing